Grey sky's
by ALotOfNerdyThings
Summary: "I don't think you're a bad person Aria. Just wrong place wrong time. You can still get out. You can still be a good person." "You really think so?" "Yeah. I do." Aria liked the rain. It smelled like home and felt safe. Growing up in Gotham she got a lot of rain. Growing up in the slums she got to much rain in fact. But it never bothered her.
1. Aria Lovett

Gotham was in a constant state of downpour for the most of the year. Many of the poorer citizens, who spent most of their lives on its streets, had a hard time becoming dry. Rain bombarding the city, with the odd thunderstorm throughout the year, was a near constant. So, it wasn't such an uncommon occurrence for Gotham to be currently hosting one of those thunderstorms. A thick layer of fog hung over the city, blurring shapes and making the already dangerous city harder to navigate. To a normal residence of the city, nothing seemed odd or out of place in this particular storm, it may have come on a bit fast and without much warning, but the cities inhabitants had far more dire things to worry about then the speed the storm had forged itself, seemingly from nowhere.

Gotham was known as a city of madness, with a darkness that crept into every nook and cranny of the city, infecting everyone who lived there and creating a sense of normalcy that seemed warped and wrong to the rest of the world. This idea of madness was what sent normal people over the edge, creating personals that gravitated towards a singular obsession.

On this particular night, Batman, the caped crusader of Gotham, was focused on the Riddler and the foiling of one of his schemes, which would have left hundreds wounded or dead.

On the opposite side of the city, in a dark alley that most knew not to approach under any circumstance, no matter what they heard or saw, a baby cried. Its wails lost to the noise of the city, both from the organic storm and the man made streets.

Unlike many new born babies that were abandoned in the city, the infant didn't even receive a blanket to be wrapped in, and had no dipper on either. The baby simple laid on a soggy cardboard box that had been abandoned, much like itself, crying, naked to the world.

If it had been any other night, then perhaps the baby might have died. No-one would have come for it and the little one would become just another statistic. The alley way was never entered, at least not by anyone who might help the infant, but the storm had forced those who were on the streets when it hit to take shelter. And the closest place to Eva Lovett was crime alley, birth place to the greatest tragedies of Gotham.

Eva Lovett wasn't rich, in fact she barely made enough money to afford a single bedroom apartment in the worst parts of Gotham, and had been heading home from her second shift of the day, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep before heading off to her second job. And even though Eva had spent most of her life working for everything she had, and being treated as sub-human by those she served at her diner, Eva had a kind heart. So when she ducked into crime alley in a vain attempt to avoid the storm and was greeted with the wailing of a baby, Eva had taken off running in her best guess of the baby's direction, as the wind was carrying and distorting all sound.

Abandoned babies weren't a new thing to Gotham, and Eva had passed many children huddling in their best attempt to keep warm around Gotham. She'd even been pick pocketed by some. But Eva's heart bled at the sight of the small baby, crying, sitting amongst the trash, as if it was nothing. Leaning down, Eva scooped the baby up into her arm, shushing her as best she could.

"Hi little one," Eva muttered, drawing the crying baby closer to her chest. "Where are your parents?" Of course the baby just kept crying, letting the question hand in the air.

Glancing up and down the alleyway, Eva frowned. Not a single other person was in sight, and there was no sign of life besides Eva and the baby now in her arms.

Sighing, Eva manoeuvred the baby in her arms, cradling it only in one arm, as she loosened her back pack off of one shoulder, having it hanging limply off of one arm. Reaching in, Eva found her used apron from her shift from the diner. Frowning Eva sighed.

"This is all I've got baby. Sorry," Eva smiled apologetically, wrapping the baby as best she could in the apron.

Readjusting her pack on her back, Eva pulled the baby now wrapped in her apron away from the rain, pressing her back against the worn brick wall.

Humming softly, Eva rocked the baby in her arms, glancing at the dark clouds hanging over head. Just as the baby was beginning to calm down, a clap of thunder, almost right above the duo's heads, startled the baby into another round of crying.

"Oh baby, please stop crying," Eva begged, still rocking the baby in her arms and humming softly to it.

As the baby kept on screaming at the top of its tiny little lungs, Eva sighed, racking her brain for the song her mother use to sing to her to get her to calm down when she was small.

Frowning, Eva bit into her lip, before finally giving up and singing softly.

" _Wandering child of the earth_ _  
_ _Do you know just how much you're worth?_ _  
_ _You have walked, this path since your birth_ _  
_ _You were destined for more_."

The baby's crying had finally started to subside, its eye's open for the first time, showing a grey the same colour of the storm clouds above.

" _There are those who'll tell you you're wrong_ _  
_ _They will try to silence your song_ _  
_ _But right here is where you belong_ _  
_ _So don't search anymore_."

" _You are the dawn of a new day that's waking_ _  
_ _A masterpiece still in the making_ _  
_ _The blue in an ocean of grey_."

Eva grinned down at the baby, taking in a gulp of air. Its crying had subsided and now it just smiled and giggled, staring up at Eva with its big eyes.

" _You are right where you need to be_ _  
_ _Poised to inspire and to succeed_ _  
_ _You'll look back and you'll realize one day._ "

Finally the clouds seemed to subside, the rain halting almost as quickly as it had come on. Sighing, Eva stepped out hesitantly, eyeing the clouds, which were still hanging above the city, now showing signs of breaking, with glimpses of sunlight shining through.

Relived, Eva smiled down at the baby in her arms.

"Okay little one, let's get you somewhere warm. Then I'll think of something to do with you."

Crime alley wasn't that far from Eva's own apartment, it was in a rather terrible area after all. So, with quick, hurried steps, Eva arrived at the front door to her apartment building, all the while making silly faces at the baby in her arms and humming softly. Using her elbow to open the door, Eva backed into her apartment building. By now the baby in her arms had begun to fall asleep, tis stormy eyes drooping. Taking each step carefully to her apartment, Eva climbed the four flights of stairs to her landing. Loosening her backpack form her back again, Eva felt around for her loose keys, mindful to not wake the baby in her arms.

Grinning as her hand clasped around her apartment key, Eva unlocked her door and backed into apartment. Even though Eva tried her best to close the door softly, it was still loud in the otherwise silent apartment. Blinking awake, the baby looked up at Eva for a moment, frowning its tiny brows up at Eva, who was smiling nervously hoping the baby wouldn't start crying. After a moment, the baby just smiled up at Eva, making grabby hands towards her glasses.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Eva dropped her bag off at her door, and walked further into her apartment, making cooing noises at the baby in her arms.

Putting the baby down on her old worn couch, Eva unwrapped the apron from the baby, lifting its legs up a little.

"Alright. Baby girl then," Eva muttered, lowering the baby's legs. Frowning, Eva wrapped the baby up again, scooping her into her own arms.

Eva's next door neighbour, Jessica Raddly, had two kids. A boy who was in his late teens and in a certain kind of trouble that you could only find in Gotham, and a little girl, only eight years old, who had dimpled cheeks and a smile that lit up a room. Jessica worked a lot. But it was all night shifts, and so for the moment she was home, her two kids at school.

Baby resting her head on Eva's chest, Eva left her apartment, leaving it unlocked. Her apartment was in a terrible place, but the other residents weren't that bad. The worst they had were a few addicts on the bottom floor. Everyone was going through a terrible time and knew not to make it worst for the other residents.

"Jessica. Open up, I need to talk to you!" Eva called, knocking on Jessica's door.

A few grumbles came from within, and the after a moment, a middle aged woman, hair a bit prematurely grey but still showing the dark brown of her youth, appeared at the door. Her glare softened when she saw it was Eva, only to turn into confusion when she saw the baby in Eva's arms.

"So we many not see each other much Eva, but I don't think you've been pregnant recently," Jessica said, leaning towards the baby in Eva's arms.

"Not mine Jess. I found her in an alleyway and I might need some help."

Snorting, Jess moved away from the door beaconing the duo into her apartment. "No kidding hon."

Walking towards the kitchen counter, Jess switched on the coffee brewer, reheating an old pot she had brewed last night and had just been too tried to change it. She leaned against the counter, raking her eyes up and down Eva, who shifted the baby in her arms nervously.

"So, what the hell is this about?"

"Abandoned baby in crime alley."

Silence hung over the room as Jess just glared at Eva. Finally she sighed, poring herself a cup of coffee before offering one to Eva. "Bloody hell Eva. What have you dragged to my door this time?"

"I haven't dragged anything to your door and I resent that! I only wanted to know if I could borrow some baby clothes, from when Allie and Arden were young."

Gnawing at her lip, Jess set her coffee cup down. "Wait one moment," holding a finger up to Eva, Jess wandered into another room. Eva spent a moment just rocking the baby in her arms and humming under her breath.

A few bangs could be heard from the room Jess was in, but Eva just kept her eyes on the baby in her arms, who had woken up and was giggling up at Eva.

Finally, Jess rendered the room, pushing a stroller that held a plastic bag on it.

"This is all I have on hand," Jess muttered. "You could just drop the kid off at an orphanage you know? You don't need to take the kid you know? Not your responsibility."

"Yeah I know, but Gotham orphanages aren't a good place. I don't want to pick her up from the literal garbage only for her to die of hunger."

Shrugging, Jess pushed the stroller out of her apartment and towards Eva's. She stopped, hesitating at the door.

"You'll need a name for her. And a birth certificate. I'll ask Arden if one of his friends can whip something up."

Looking down, Eva smiled at the grey eyes looking back at her. "Aria. After my mother."

"It's pretty."


	2. Jason Todd

Aria Lovett had a hard time understanding her mother. She seemed to walk into danger with her head held high and barely a thought given to her own self-preservation, meanwhile if Aria even got a bump or scratch Eva Lovett had the first aid kit out and Aria on bedrest for at least a week. It just didn't make sense to Aria why her mother fussed around her so much while caring little for her own protection.

"Oh come on mum, it's not a big deal!" Aria huffed, trailing after her mother, who was busy getting her work uniform ready for her shift at the bar down the road from the two.

"Aria I'm net letting you go out by yourself, in the middle of the night in Gotham! You'll get yourself killed!"

"But you go out by yourself, at night, in Gotham basically every night!" Aria shot back, glaring at her mother with her dark grey eyes.

"Yes, but that's different."

"How so?"

"I'm an adult," Eva said, grinning down at her daughter. "And you're a child."

Grumbling, Aria, stopped off, dramatically falling on the couch.

"I can't believe my own mother! The woman who gave birth to me! The woman who raised me! Wouldn't trust me! This is the greatest sin to ever befall my heart! Woes-is-me!" Aria cried, placing her hand on her forehead and closing her eyes.

Rolling her eyes, Eva walked over to her daughter, taking her hand in her own and kissing Aria's forehead. "It's not that I dot trust you Cricket, it's that I don't trust Gotham. You go out there on your own at night and you'll be as dead as a rat," eyeing her daughter, Eva placed another kiss on her daughters forehead, before walked over to the door, glaring at her daughter. "Stay."

Huffing, Aria nodded, puffing her cheeks out and glaring at the wall.

"Good Cricket. I'll be home in a few hours, you better be asleep by then," pointing at Aria, Eva gave a cheeky grin before blowing her daughter a kiss. "Night baby girl."

"Night mum," Aria grumbled, absently catching the blown kiss in hand.

Closing the door behind her, Eva left Aria to her thoughts. At the age of 9, Aria was overly intelligent, and had a thirst for knowledge. Tonight there was going to be a reading of _Pride and Prejudice_ at Gotham City library, along with a talk about Jane Austen and some of her novels. Her mother had promised her that she would take her, but had ended up being called into work at the last minute. Ms Raddly was working as well, and her daughter had moved out with her girlfriend a few weeks back, leaving Aria all alone and with no-one to take her.

She had asked her mother if she could go by herself, only to be treated like she was making a joke. Her mother obviously didn't trust her enough, and it left a bitter taste in Aria's mouth as she continued scowling at the wall.

Eva had basically been taking Aria to self-defence classes since she could walk, not trusting her only daughters safety to either the corrupt police force or the wacko that dressed like a bat to beat up criminals.

Aria was sure she would be fine, she was always fine, with that in mind, Aria slipped on her discarded shoes and jacket. She'd be fine, Aria thought at she unlocked her bedroom window. Nothing would happen, Aria concluded at she closed her apartment door behind her.

"Everything will be just peachy," Aria muttered at she descended her apartment buildings stairs. "I'll be back before mum and she'll never notice I was gone. It'll be fine." Aria repeated to herself as she left her apartment building.

According to Eva, the neighbourhood that she and Aria lived in hadn't changed much since she herself was a girl growing up in the same streets they now lived on. "The buildings are a bit more weathered, and maybe the shop keepers are nastier then the ones I grew up with, but the slums will always be the slums, Cricket," Eva had told Aria once. But Aria had a hard time picturing a time when buildings didn't look like they were about to collapse in on themselves, or shop keepers having guns that should frankly be illegal to own under their counters wasn't common place.

Gotham, Aria knew, was dangerous. And Gotham at night more so. Glancing back at the end of her street, Aria chewed on her lip. It wasn't too late to turn back, but Aria was stubborn, and she really wanted to go to the library tonight. So, doing the best she could to steel her nerves, Aria turned her back on her home.

Her steps echoed in the silent Gotham night, her long Yellow skirt dragging slightly on the ground, dirtying its hem. The bus stop was only a few more blocks away, but something was setting Aria's nerves on fire. The hair on her neck stood ridged, and as she pulled her jacket closer, Aria knew it was more than just the cold creeping into her bones. Aria felt eyes on her, and she quickened her pace, casting a nervous glance around herself as she turned a corner.

Above her, lightning flashed across the sky followed by a clap of thunder, and the skies opened up, rain beginning to poor down of Aria, who glanced up. The sky was completely blackened, not by the permanent thick layer of smog that coated the part of the city Aria lived in, but by dark storm clouds.

Behind her, Aria heard the crunch of leaves, and the soft splash of footsteps not far behind her. Breath hitching slightly, Aria shot a glance behind her, only to see a single guy, far older then her, only a few houses behind. Eyes wide, Aria broke out in a sprint, weaving through the streets that she had grown up on. This was a terrible idea, what on earth had possessed her to think this was a good idea? Breaking out in to a full run now, Aria turned the final corner before the bus stop, spotting it just pulling up. Grinning slightly, Aria did her best to pick up her speed, almost over shooting the bus altogether.

Paying the driver, a middle aged and slightly overweight man who was looking at her oddly, Aria walked down the almost empty bus, housing only five people, four of which looked dead on their feet, to its back, where only a single boy sat. Pulling her hood down and giving her dark brown curls a quick tussle, doing her best to get rid of any excess water, Aria sat down on the empty side of the buses back. The boy, who looked younger then Aria, was giving her odd looks, but didn't say anything.

With her bag resting at her feet, Aria glanced back up the bus, only to see the same guy who had been chasing her get on the bus. Her shoulders stiffened as his eyes landed on her and he grinned. A soft whimper escaped Aria as she collapsed in on herself, lightning flashing and thunder clapping as he made his way down the bus. Just before he reached the back, his eyes skipping from Aria to the seat next to her, the boy who also occupied the back seat moved over and sat next to Aria, glaring at the man.

"Move kid," the man growled, glaring down at the boy sitting next to Aria.

"No," he said, voice coated with anger as he glared at the man.

"That's my kid, so move!"

"No!" the boy growled back.

"OI! WHAT'S GOING ON BACK THERE!?" the bus driver yelled, half sat in his chair, looking like he was hesitant to get involved.

Finally finding her voice, Aria called out, "This man's bothering my friend and me!"

The boy sitting next to her shot her a look, but Aria kept her eyes trained on the bus driver. The driver huffed, and pointed at the man now glaring at the two kids and shouted, "YOU! UP HERE! NOW!"

Sending one more glare at Aria and the by sitting next to her, the man stalked up to the front of the bus, taking a seat closest to the door.

Sight in relief, Aria shot the boy next to her a smile.

"Thank you so much!"

"No problem," he muttered, a dark red running across his cheeks.

"I'm Aria Lovett by the way," Aria said giving the boy a toothy smile.

"Jason Todd," he muttered, doing his best to avoid looking at Aria in the eye. Aria, for her part just smiled, finally getting a good look at the boy's face.

He was most defiantly younger then Aria, his face still retaining baby fat while hers had begun to slim out a bit. His eyes were a soft green, and seemed to be looking anywhere except at Aria. He had a darker completion then Aria, close to her neighbour Alejandro Reyes, who lived a floor below her and had been teaching her Spanish. His shirt was far too large for his body, and hung just above his knees. It looked worn and Aria thought it might have been either bought second hand or a hand-me-down. The white stripes had turned almost grey and the yellow ones looked rather sickly. He had an oversized red hood on as well, which also looked worn and weathered. Sitting next to Aria, in her bright skirt and clean white striped shirt, along with her relatively nice jacket, he looked like more trouble than he probably was.

Jason continued to avoid looking at Aria, so after a moment of her awkwardly smiling at him her smile started to falter, until she turned her away from him to awkwardly stare at the front of the bus, where the guy who had been following her was glaring at the two. Glaring right back, Aria kept her eyes on him as the bus began to pull away.

Gotham City Library was in the nicer part of Gotham, so the bus ride was going to take a while, and with the man staring daggers at Aria, she was pretty sure that he was going to follow her off when she left. She should have stayed home after all.

The rain continued to poor down, with lightning flashing across the sky brightly, illuminating the world outside, and thunder crashing down loudly. The bus wasn't that chilly, at least for Aria who rarely felt the cold, but Jason, the boy next to her was shivering.

As the bus pulled up to stop after stop, Aria kept her eyes on the man that had been following her. Every time the bus pulled up, he would take his eyes off Aria for a brief second, eyes darting form the bus driver to the world outside before landing back on her. So as the bus began to pull up at Gotham station, one of the last stops before the Library, Aria waited before his eyes flew off of her to grab Jason by the shoulder roughtly and yanked him down onto the busses floor. Covering his mouth so that he couldn't shout, she pulled him towards her, making sure that not a single part of him was noticeable. She saw a flash of fear in his eyes, before it was replaced with anger as he bit down on her hand, hard. Biting her lip hard enough to draw blood, Aria stopped herself from crying out when she heard an angry and confused cry from the front of the bus, before heavy footsteps jumped off of the bus and the doors closed.

Sighing in relief, Aria let go of Jason, who grabbed his bag and basically jumped to the other side of the bus. Pulling herself up, Aria just had enough time to smile cheekily at her stalker as the bus pulled away.

"What the hell!?" Jason snapped, glaring daggers at Aria.

"I was being followed, duh. Didn't' you see him keeping an eye on me?"

Jason didn't answer and just continued to glare at Aria, who rolled her eyes at him.

"The dude was staring at me for most of the bus ride, and following me before I got on. Obviously he was going to get off when I got off, so I tricked him!" Aria said, her smile clear in her voice.

"That doesn't explain why you grabbed me!"

Blinking owlishly at him, Aria frowned. "Seemed easiest. Thank you by the way."

"Welcome or whatever," he muttered, finally looking away from Aria as his cheeks once again darkened.

The rest of the bus ride was spent in silence between the two, with Jason shooting glances at Aria every once in a while. Aria saw every one of them but didn't' say anything.

Outside the bus, the rain began to let up, and the thunder and lightning that had been quite present suddenly stopped.

Finally, the bus pulled up at the Library, and both Jason and Aria got up to leave.

Jason shot Aria a confused look as she pulled her bag on, which she returned with a smile.

"I'm here for Jane Austen. You?" Aria asked, as the she jumped off of the bus step and landed in a puddle.

"Same," Jason said as he did his best to avoid Aria's splash zone.

Grinning widely, Aria looped her arm through his. "Awesome, we can sit together then!" Jason tried to protest, but he could only stammer and blush as Aria pulled him towards the Library.

The two were given a few odd looks, but no-body stopped them to ask what to prepubescent children were doing hanging out at the Library so late at night. The women sitting next to hall where the reading was being done did raise her eyebrows at the two, but Aria only smiled as Jason glared.

Pulling Jason into the middle of the room, she basically forced him into his seat before sitting down next to him.

The place was still fairly empty, as the two had arrived rather early thanks to no bus running at the right time. So Aria, refusing to sit in silence, turned to Jason with a huge smile on her face. He glanced at her, but didn't say anything. Puffing out her cheeks a little, a small frown crossed her lips before it was replaced with a softer smile.

"You like Jane Austen then?"

"Wouldn't be here if I didn't," Jason muttered, still not looking at her.

"Well someone's a sassy sally. I really like _Pride and prejudiced_ , but I think I like _Persuasions_ more. What about you?"

"I like her poems best. And _Emma_."

"I haven't gotten around to reading her poems yet. Austen's really the only classic I read. I like sci-fi and fantasy far more, but she's makes me smile."

Jason's lips seemed to twist at that, and Aria thought it was a win. "What about you Jason? Like the classics better or more modern stuff?"

"Both. I like reading," Jason answered, finally turning towards Aria.

"I have some trouble with the older stuff. Mum helps me when she can, but she's always working. And schools no help, my bloody teacher's takes my books when I'm reading them. Says they're to 'advance for me,'" Aria scoffed, putting on a fake snooty accent as she impersonated her teacher, which drew a laugh from Jason.

"School is no help at all!" Jason agreed. "I'm only in 2nd grade, and my teachers glare at me every time I have a book in my hand. They don't like any one to read anything without pictures or more than 50 words, what a bunch of Idiotas."

Grinning, Aria reached into her bag and pulled out a small sandwich bag that had a few loose lollies in it. Opening it, she offered the bag to Jason, who looked between it and her for a moment, frowning, before reaching in and taking out a small handful.

"Thanks!"

Smiling, Aria reached in herself and pulled out a few lollies, plopping them into her mouth as the reading finally began

Once the talk had been finished, Jason and Aria left the Library together. The two were in a heated conversation about what had been talked about, and Aria was having trouble remembering the last time she had this much fun with someone relatively her own age.

"I'm not saying I didn't like _Pride and Prejudiced_ Aria, I'm just saying I like in better Español."

Aria snorted at that, looping her arm through his. "Whatever Jay."

"Don't call me Jay princesa."

"Don't call me Princess then," Aria said with a grin as she jumped onto the bus heading back to her neighbourhood.

Snorting, Jason followed Aria back onto the bus, where they both took seats near the back.

The two spent most of the ride back to Aria's stop talking about books. Jason's apparent love from reading stemmed from him reading his mama's books, which were all in Spanish, with a few English ones thrown in. Aria told him about how her neighbour from across the hall use to babysit her, and all she would do was read, constantly reading. And how the way her voice had sounded had always made Aria feel nice.

"So why'd you end up going alone tonight Jay? Surely your mother wouldn't have let you go alone?"

"Same could be said for your mother couldn't it?"

Blushing, Aria suddenly found an interest in her feet.

"Mum was gonna take me. But…. She got called into work at the last minute."

"So you snuck out?"

Nodding, Aria looked back at Jason. "You?"

"Mama couldn't take. So I came alone," Jason didn't give anything more than that, and a life time growing up not asking questions allowed Aria to know when to keep her mouth shut.

"We should hang out!" Aria said instead, grinning shyly.

"Should we?" Jason asked, genuine puzzlement in his voice.

"Yeah! It'll be fun! Mum leads me out during the day for the most part, we should go Library or something!"

Smile slowly growing wider, Jason nodded.

"Sí, that'd be fun."

"Cool. Okay so I live on Marston Street. It's, well, it's this side of Crime Alley. Closeish."

"Carter Street. A few blocks down from Crime Alley on the other side," Jason said with a grin.

"That's not that far!" Aria exclaimed, smiling. "We can totally hang out!"

The two smiled at each other. Aria was a permanent ball of sunshine, but found it hard to make friends her own age. She thought most of them were too childish and cruel to befriend. Not to mention stupid. Jason on the other hand was a permanent ball of anger, who thought other people were stupid in general. But they both seemed to think the other wasn't stupid, which was enough for them to kick start a friendship.

"Oh!" Aria said, jumping to her feet. "This is my stop. Come by sometime Jason, I'm usually outside if I'm not in school!" Aria called out, as she left the bus.

As the bus pulled away, she could see Jason waving at her, and she frantically waved back, probably embarrassing him.

"What a cutie," Aria muttered as she headed towards her apartment building.

The sky had begun to clear up, with only a few dark grey clouds hanging around. The stars were still unseeable though, the smog clung to close to the city for that.

Humming softly under her breath, Aria walked down the empty road towards her street. She was in such a good mood she didn't even hear the soft tap of footsteps behind her till she was struck in the back of the head.

Calling out as she fell forwards, darkness crept around the edges of Aria's vision. Struggling, she looked behind her, to see the same man who had been following her earlier, and that she was convinced she'd lost. Apparently not.

"Thought ya could give me da slip did ya bitch?" He asked in a thick New Jersey accent.

Standing above her, he held what looked like a brick in one hand, but part of it was covered I a thick red liquid that took Aria a moment to process.

Blood.

Her blood.

Staring wide eyed at the man for a moment, Aria regained her sense of reality when she heard a clash of thunder not far off.

Doing her best to get up and move, Aria struggled to her feet, only to pulled against her assailant.

"Please," Aria whimpered; the pain in her head growing as she felt blood trickling form it.

"No-one gives me da slip ya hear me!" he growled, his hold an Aria tightening.

"Please let me go," Aria whispered, fighting as best she could. All her martial arts training seemed to vanish, as she just flailed around.

"Ya a pretty one. Might' have with ya," he muttered, moving a hand from around Aria to push her hair back and get a better look at her face. "A real pretty one ya ah," he cooed, stroking Aria's hair. "Why, ya as pretty as a-"

Aria never found out what she was as pretty as, as at that exact moment a huge crash of sound and light flashed across the her world, and her assailant seized up. Breaking his hold on her, Aria wrenched herself away only to fall to her knees.

Flipping over, Aria saw her attacker, seizing on the ground. His clothes were burnt, and there was a scorch mark at his feet.

Scrabbling to her feet, Aria backed away, eyeing the sky with fear. Her eyes dropped though, when she heard her attack groan.

"Help," he muttered, unable to lift his head. "Help me ya fucking kid," he muttered, his words slurred.

Aria just stared at him.

He might have killed her.

He was going to- he was going to rape her!

And he was asking her help?

From her?

Aria's frightened stare turned into an angry glare. She wished he had died!

Suddenly, another crash of thunder and flash of lighting hit her attacker. He seized up again, his body spasming, before he stopped moving altogether.

Aria stared back up at the sky, the clouds clearing as quickly as they came.

"What….what just happened?"

 _(_ _So I'm making up locations of Gotham based on people affiliated with DC comics in someway._ _  
_ _Also, I'm mashing all of Jason's backgrounds together to get something that i think would work for YJ. I might go into it more in the story, if not, i'll add it as a note or something. Also, look at my sassy baby. He's adorable and i love him. He's also a huge nerd, fight me on this. It may seem a little ooc, but he's a kid and he'll end up more Jaosn Todd esque later._ _  
_ _Anyway;_ _  
_ _Spanish to English translation, I don't speak Spanish, this was done with google translate i just headcannon Jason Todd as being Latino, with a mother who spoke it at home._ _  
_ _Español= Spanish word for Spanish._ _  
_ _princesa= princess._ _  
_ _Sí= yes.)_


	3. Inbetween

Aria Lovett sat at her bedroom window, the glass opened and a cool breeze drifting into her poorly lit room, ruffling her hair slightly, as she glared at the sky outside her window. Outside, the night air was calm and the sky was clear, or as clear as it ever was for Gotham, and no matter how hard Aria tried, not a single cloud appeared in the sky. No sign of rain, no hint of thunder, nor lightning. Nothing, the sky was simple still.

Growling, Aria rested her head against her knees, giving up for a moment, as her mind made shapes of the few smog clouds lingering in the sky. _Vampire dolphin,_ Aria thought, staring at the oddly shaped cloud.

As Aria stared, her mind wandered back to the last few weeks of her life and how everything had become so confusing in such a short period of time.

It had been several weeks since Aria had first met and befriended Jason Todd, and only a few days since she had started considering the scrappy kid from a neighbourhood worse than her own, her best friend, even if it was only I her head.

Aria and Jason had kept their word, and the next day, after Aria had had her little adventure, as she sat outside on her buildings steps, reading over a book that her mother had picked up for her a shadow begun to block out the sun. Looking up, a scowl on her face and an insult sitting on her tongue, Aria came face to face with the same adorable boy from the night before, who was looking at her as rather nervously.

Jason looked almost the same as he did the night before, only this time he wore an oversized grey shirt rather than his striped yellow one, his hair was still wild and unkempt, sticking up at odd angles. Jason stared down at Aria, looking rather nervous as he fidgeted, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. It only took Aria a moment to realise he was nervous because of her, and another moment before she was launching herself towards him, throwing her arms around him in a hug. He was adorable after all and she couldn't not hug his scowling face.

"Jay!" Aria cried as she pulled him into a tight hug.

"Hey Princesa," he'd replied, a clear note of relief in his voice.

"I can't believe you actually came! I didn't think you liked me very much, I am rather annoying after all," Aria chirped, pulling away from the slightly flustered younger boy.

"Sí, you are, but you're the only person who'll talk to me about books," Jason admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, yet with a cheeky grin.

"I'd introduce you to my mother, but she had to work last night and most of the day, so she's catching up on her sleep," Aria blabbered, waving towards her apartment building.

Jason looked away for a moment, not making eye contact with Aria. "My Madre is at home. What are you reading?"

Aria knew Jason was avoiding talking about his mother. But it didn't bother her that much.

"Oh! It's a book my Mum picked up on her way home from work earlier! I'm not very far in it, but it's really good! It's about aliens and space war's and stuff! I'm only a chapter in and I already adore it!" Aria said, holding her book close to her chest.

Aria's hand blocked out part of the author's name, so all Jason could make out was Alan Foster, with a third name in between lost to him. Running boldly across a rather plane background was the books title, _A call to Arms._

Aria dragged Jason down to the step next to her, before plopping herself down. Grinning, she closed her book and turned towards Jason, who was eyeing everyone that walked past the duo.

"How'd you find me Jay?" Aria asked, her head tilting.

"Ahhhh luck I guess?" Jason said, shrugging awkwardly. Truth was he'd been wandering up and down Marston Street for half an hour, but he never told Aria that until years had passed, and at the moment in time, Aria believed him.

"That's cool! I was gonna go see if I could find you when I finished this chapter, but I ah, I guess I got a little distracter heh," Aria said, grinning sheepishly down at her book, sitting closed next to her.

Jason snorted at her, and the two lapped into awkward silence, which wasn't unusual for two people who had just met, especially for a social pariah like Jason, who sat on the fringes of society. Adults didn't think he heard them when they talked about his parents and him, but he did. He heard it all, and it left him not trusting new people, and although Aria seemed nice, he was sure that as soon as she found out what his family was like she'd stop wanting to be his friend. People never wanted to get involved with his family.

Aria, on the other hand, who was often compared to a constant ball of energy by her mother, was viewed as annoying and often forced out of social circles by kids her age. Even Jason had admitted that he found her annoying. It was only a matter of time until he realised that he didn't want to hang out with her any more than other people did.

Awkward children they were, but for two very different reasons, and at this early a stage in their friendship, both were worried they'd screw up and loose someone they saw as cool.

Finally, getting fed up with the silence, Aria jumped off of the step, before pulling Jason with her.

"Wait here a moment, I'm just gonna put my book inside and we can go do something fun!" Aria called back, as she raced back into her apartment building.

Snorting, Jason allowed the girl to do what she wanted, he doubted he could stop her from it anyway. She didn't seem like the type to listen to him.

While it may not have taken very long for Aria to start to see Jason as her best-friend, it hadn't been long enough for her to forget that she had likely killed someone with the very forces of nature. Or so she believed.

The morning after the event, as her mother was taking her to school, Aria and Eva had passed the scene of Aria's attack. An ambulance was there, along with a few detectives who were talking to the residence of that street. Aria hadn't been able to hear what was being said, but that night at dinner her mother gave her a long lecture about never leaving the house alone. When Aria had asked what had prompted this, her mother had answered as she served dinner.

"The man from the s'morning Cricket. Apparently a few people heard a struggle last night and screaming, a girls scream at that. They think he might have been attacking some poor girl when he was struck by lightning. Oddly enough, there were two strikes last night, both on him. The GCPD's Meta force is looking into the possibility of a Meta, after all, if he was attacking someone they would have been just as fried as he was," Eva replied, as she dished vegetables onto Aria's plate. "Imagine a Meta in our neighbourhood Cricket. Scary," Eva shivered at the thought, and it was at that moment that Aria decided not to tell her mother.

Aria had also decided to hold off on telling Jason about her maybe powers. He was sweet and a gigantic nerd even if he denied it and instead projected a tough guy vibe, but he didn't seem like he could handle a secret this big, if he even believed her at that.

So here she sat, glaring at the night sky, as if the very force of her anger could magically make a storm appear from nowhere.

After all, she might have done it before.

Aria had been spending weeks looking up into the sky, trying to make something, anything, happen, to no success. Maybe she hadn't killed that man, and the two lightning strikes had been purely chance, she had been researching storms, and it did seem the lightning was more likely to strike a person if they'd already been struck. Maybe she didn't have any powers, and everything was purely random chance and circumstances, and that she had simple won the lottery of both good luck and bad luck at the same time.

Aria didn't really believe that.

A knock on her door drew Aria's attention away from the un-churning sky. Her mother stood at the door way, holding a bright large bowl, with the smell of butter wafting from it. A warm and soft smile sitting on her lips as she edge slowly into her daughters room.

"Hey Cricket. _Heathers_ is on tonight. Wanna watch with me?" Eva asked, shaking the bowl slightly.

Aria's scowl slowly melted away. Thursday night was the only night Eva didn't work, and the two had long since established that it was family night. Last week the two had gone out to an ice-cream parlour, and the week before, Eva had forced Ms Raddly and another neighbour into playing monopoly with the two, the week before that had been the library, but that hadn't ended up very well. Tonight was meant to be a movie night, as _Heathers_ was luckily playing, one of Eva's and Aria's favourite movies.

Pulling herself away from her window, Aria picked up her discarded blanket.

"I'll be out in a moment ma, just let me clean up a bit."

"All good Cricket, but don't be too long," with that, Eva left Aria in the dark of her room.

Wrapping her blanket around herself, Aria closed the open window and picked up her clothes from the day before folding them neatly before putting them away in her dresses. Dressed in an oversized Wonder Woman shirt, and Green Lantern pants, Aria trudged out of her room, closing the door behind her.

Eva was sitting on their old, faded purple couch that Aria had spotted on the street a few years back and forced her mother to bring home. An oversized hoodie was left open, revealing her large grey sweatshirt, the popcorn sitting in her lap as she gulfed down a hand full.

The T.V was on, a commercial showing, not revealing if the movie had started yet or not, not that Aria at the moment could really bring herself to care all that much.

"Hey Cricket," Aria said around a mouth full of popcorn. "Come watch our favorite psychopathic bad boy that teaches us not to get involved with the bad boy even though he's ridiculously hot," Eva said, patting the spot next to her.

Snorting, Aria jumped down on to the couch, curling in on herself as the ad's finally ended, revealing Veronica playing croquet with the Heathers.

"Rats, I missed the opening."

"Told you to hurry Cricket," Eva muttered, kissing Aria on the forehead.

The two settled in to the couch, Eva handing the popcorn bowl over to her daughter, who basically inhaled it. There was nothing shocking about a movie that you've watch 101 times, but the movie still managed to captivate the two girls. It warmed Aria in a way that her blanket couldn't but her favourite book or food could. When the two ran out of popcorn in the middle of the movie, right after Queen bitch Heather was poisoned, Aria got up to make more. Grabbing a bottle of cheap wine, and a bottle of dollar store soda for Aria, she left the popcorn in the microwave while she headed back to give Aria her drink, taking a swing of her wine on the way.

When Heathers finished, Eva was appropriately buzzed, and let Aria channel surf before landing on an Anime movie that Eva had never heard of, but apparently Aria had by the way her eyes lit up.

For the night the two sat there, swapping channels when the movie ended or began to bore them. It was well passed 3 when Eva finally nodded of, with Aria still going strong.

When Aria saw her mother's head dripped, she grabbed the bottle of wine, recorking it, and placing it back where her mother had had it. She picked up the empty popcorn bowl, leaving it in the sink filled with hot water, before snuggling up in her mother's arms, and pulling her blanket over the two.

The T.V remained on, and Aria began to doze off to the soft back ground sounds.

Her dreams that night were filled with raging skies, and flashes of multi-coloured light. Nothing was tangible, and to Aria it felt like her body no-longer existed and she had become one with the air, the pain was unimaginable, as she was ripped in a million directions, able to see everything and nothing all at once. Aria woke with a start, the smell of burning flesh clinging to her sense, and forcing her to gag, her limbs aching as if she had just ran the length of the city.

Her mother was still holding her, and just as fast as the pain had come, it faded away, replaced by that warm feeling a person has when they are being held by the one they love above all else.

Aria tried to settle back into her mother, to fall asleep again, but her mind wouldn't rest, and every time the world began to fade, her mind remembered the fear of her dream and snapped back to reality, more alert then before.

She still had hours before school, and Aria knew she wasn't going to get anymore rest that night.

 **(Guess who's unhappy with this chapter? It me. But like, i've rewritten it three times and I just can't do it again. So here you go internet. Have fun and enjoy. I'll rewrite it later when i go through and six up mistakes and the like.**

 **Enjoy this moment between the chaos ;P)**


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